HR: 0800h
AN: A31B-0308    [Abstracts]
TI: Climate Data Records of Sea Surface Temperatures
AU: * Minnett, P J
EM: pminnett@rsmas.miami.edu
AF: University of Miami, Meteorology and Physical Oceanography Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, United States
AB: Sea-surface temperature (SST) is a geophysical variable intimately involved in the climate system. It provides the bottom boundary condition for much of the atmosphere, being the primary source of heat for atmospheric energy, and is a potential "global thermometer" that can reveal evidence of a changing climate. It is also one of the few variables that can be derived on global scales using satellite remote sensing with uncertainty characteristics that can be well defined. Given the need for long-term climate records "of high accuracy, tested for systematic errors on-orbit, and tied to irrefutable standards such as those maintained in the U.S. by NIST" the validation of satellite-derived SSTs using shipboard M-AERIs (Marine-Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometers) is being undertaken. The measurements of the M-AERIs can be traced to NIST standards. To achieve an adequate description of the error characteristics the validation data sets should encompass the full climatological range of not only the retrieved variables, but also those that introduce uncertainties. Thus, for example, the validation of SSTs should cover not only the full range of SSTs, but also span the range of atmospheric water vapor distribution. The presentation will describe the approach of establishing and maintaining Climate Data Records of SST involving a long-term campaign of ship-based infrared radiometry.
DE: 1694 Instruments and techniques
DE: 1855 Remote sensing (1640)
DE: 4275 Remote sensing and electromagnetic processes (0689, 2487, 3285, 4455, 6934)
DE: 4594 Instruments and techniques
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting